A newly released Swedish true crime drama has become a hit on Netflix in the UK.
The Breakthrough is based on a real-life double murder in Linköping, Sweden in 2004, which sparked the country's second-largest-ever investigation that was solved after 16 years thanks to new genealogical research.
The four-part miniseries is described as "a fictional story" inspired by Anna Bodin and Peter Sjölund's 2021 non-fiction book The Breakthrough: How The Genealogist Solved the Double Murder in Linköping.
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Since its release yesterday (January 7), the show has landed on Netflix UK's Top 10 programmes. It's currently sitting at number five behind the likes of Squid Game and Missing You and ahead of Black Doves and Virgin River.
First announced back in 2022, The Breakthrough stars Peter Eggers and Mattias Nordkvist as the central police officer and genealogist, with Oskar Söderlund writing the series.
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"When the double murder in Linköping, Sweden, back in 2004 was finally solved after 16 years, it was a genealogist who made the breakthrough," the synopsis reads. "For the first time in Europe, a murder could be solved through genealogical research.
"The Breakthrough is a fictional story about the unexpected hero, an unlikely collaboration, and the hunt for a killer. But it is also a story about how an unsolved crime affects a society and what happens to people who are left without answers to both 'Who?' and 'Why?'"
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Speaking previously about the project, writer Söderlund said: "When I read the book The Breakthrough, I was struck by the fact that there was such strong human destinies behind this massive murder investigation.
"Police officers who refuse to give up, relatives who wanted answers and last but not least the genealogist who finally came up with the solution.
"It is a terrible trauma that has affected the people and the city of Linköping and I want to respectfully tell about the attempts to move on from such trauma. In the midst of this tragedy, there are people who refuse to give up, who're struggling to move on and whose whole life is marked by what happened."
The Breakthrough is available to stream now on Netflix.
Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.
